Bonded
by RhysMerilot
Summary: Henry never read the second page of the spell…Written for Swan Queen Week, Arranged Marriage AU, day three


**Author's Notes: Late again, I know. I blame work entirely. Better late than never I figure!**

* * *

They were fighting again and it wasn't just their usual bickering, they were full on screaming at each other and it was bad. Really bad. Henry sighed as he lay back on his bed, noticing now how too big he was for the small twin mattress he'd slept on for most of his life.

His mothers were fighting because Emma had let him practice driving in the Bug because she expressed how important it was to learn to drive stick. They'd been out on some of the back roads near the town line where he could practice without other cars around. He'd been getting the hang of it too, until his other mother transported herself into the backseat, angrier than he'd seen her in a very long time.

It was how he managed to run the Bug off the road, his foot slipping when he missed the clutch trying to downshift the gear. He wasn't sure how things happened after that, but somehow they all managed to switch around in the seats inside the car until he ended up in the back and his mothers in front, both of them arguing back and forth.

It only escalated from there and once they were back at Mifflin Street, things got even worse and the yelling started before they even reached the front door.

"He's sixteen years old, Regina! He needs to learn how to drive!" Emma yelled, her voice traveling from downstairs and into his room. "Don't you give me shit about him not having a permit either. I'm the Sheriff and I'm teach my son how to drive!"

"By breaking the law? As the Sheriff you should know he needs a permit to be behind the wheel! And besides, I don't recall you asking me for permission to teach my son how to drive that death trap of yours either!"

Henry got up off the bed and walked over to his desk where he picked up his phone and slipped the ear-buds in and cranked the music. He couldn't hear anymore of their yelling without starting to feel like it was partially his fault. It was, just a little, he'd begged Emma to teach him how to drive after Regina had specifically told him no and that he'd have to wait until he received his learner's permit to get behind the wheel.

Emma gave in all too easily and he should've known then that it was a bad idea to double-cross his other mother like that, to go against her word just because Emma said yes.

If they weren't fighting about him or something the other had allowed him to do, they were fighting about everything else. It reminded him of two divorced parents who were fighting every time the kid got dropped off or picked up.

The thought alone sparked an idea. An idea he knew would be risky, but maybe it'd be one way to get them to stop fighting all the time.

He retrieved a small spell book that Mr. Gold was unaware he'd taken, or if he was being honest with himself it was highly likely that Mr. Gold was aware and had just never mentioned him "borrowing" the book of mostly harmless spells. Neither of his mothers was aware he was in possession of such book, which was why he'd had it hidden in the false bottom of his desk drawer.

There had to be something in there that would make them stop fighting, but the book of spells did not contain memory potions or magic that altered that of free will. With a grunt of frustration, he tossed the book onto his bed and he was about to pull out the ear-bud and yell down at his mothers to stop fighting when he noticed the very specific page the book had landed open on.

Maybe it was fate or maybe it was dumb blind luck, whatever it was, and he had a feeling that the spell the book was open to would most definitely work.

And if it didn't, well, there was no harm trying it anyway.

Anything was better than hearing them fight all the time.

[X]

It took him three whole days to find the proper ingredients the spell called for and to get them he had to be very clever in his lies. Emma didn't question why he had a jar full of dirt on his dresser in his room at her apartment, nor did she question why he had a twelve-inch rope made from the bark of his mother's precious apple tree—something that she didn't know and if she did, he knew she'd surely skin him alive for damaging her tree.

At least he'd stripped the bark from up in the branches, in a spot he hoped wasn't entirely visible from below. The spell had called for something very specific, something with meaning for each of the parties involved and the only thing he could think of when it came to Regina and one of the things that meant everything to her was her honey crisp apple tree.

When it came to Emma, it was harder because she very rarely held on to anything. Her baby blanket was hidden, but after searching high and low for hours, he found it in a box, tucked away in the rafters where it couldn't be seen from below. He didn't want to ruin it, surely she'd kill him if she ever found out, but all he needed was some of the ribbon and there was plenty of it.

The rest of the ingredients read like something out of a cookbook. There were various spices and most of those he managed to borrow a pinch or two of from Snow's kitchen. By the end of the third day, he'd had everything he needed and he sat in his bedroom, cross-legged on the bed and wrapped the purple ribbon around the bark rope, binding it tightly while repeating the words written for the first part of the spell.

Once that was done and the ingredients were mixed together in the jar filled with dirt, he stuck the ribbon wrapped rope inside and jumped back when the entire jar started glowing, first white and then red before it faded and all that was left inside the jar was the rope. He wasn't sure what happened to the rest, or if the spell would even work, but there was only one way to find out.

And it was just by sheer luck that tonight was one of those nights they had a family dinner together and Regina would be arriving at any given moment. He stuck the rope into his back pocket and headed for the kitchen where Emma was pulling out three plates off the bottom shelf.

"Hey, kid, you want to grab the water jug out of the fridge?"

"Sure."

"What have you been doing in there?" Emma asked as she hooked a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of his room. "You've been spending a lot of time in there."

"Just stuff," he shrugged, pulling open the fridge door and grabbed the full water jug out and shut the door. Upon his mother's curiously raised eyebrow and slightly horrified look, he rolled his eyes. "I'm not jacking off or anything."

"Henry!"

"Well I'm not!" Henry said angrily as embarrassment tinged his cheeks.

"Then what have you been doing?"

"Just stuff."

"Secret stuff?" Emma asked with a frown. "Henry…"

"What?"

"Why can't you just tell me?" Emma asked and he shrugged. "Whatever, your mom is going to be here soon. Why don't you set the table and I'll start bringing the food over. And then you and I are going to have a little talk about keeping secrets. If I have to, I'll talk to you with your mom here and I know she won't be too happy to hear that you've been "doing stuff" in your room."

Henry rolled his eyes and grabbed the plates from her while she retrieved the few containers of Chinese take-out and brought them to the table. He could feel the rope in his pocket and it felt warm against his thigh and not even ten seconds after he felt that warmth, the buzzer rang and Emma darted over to the intercom to let Regina in.

He had read over the last part of the spell a hundred times. All he had to do was get the rope close enough to both of them and it would magically bond their hands together. He wasn't sure how that'd work exactly, it's not like they were ever close when they were around one another. He'd never even seen them within three feet of each other save for the day Regina had transported herself into Emma's car and started yelling at his mom for allowing him to drive without his learner's permit.

The moment Regina walked through the door, he yanked the rope out of his pocket, the warmth growing hotter until it felt like it was searing his skin. His eyes widened as he watched the magic rope wriggle in his hand almost violently. Both his mother's looked right at him and at the rope he held on to tightly in his hand and before either could say a word, he lost grip on it and it shot through the air, one end wrapping around Emma's right wrist and with an unseen force, it pulled her towards Regina and the other end wrapped around her left.

"What the hell?" Emma yelped as she clawed at the rope with her left hand. "What the hell is this? Henry, did you do this?"

"Move your hand," Regina instructed calmly. She waved her right hand over the rope and absolutely nothing happened. "Hmm, that's strange."

"What's strange?" Emma asked in a panic. "Regina?"

"I tried removing it, but there feels like some sort of barrier is protecting it. Very strong magic."

"But what the hell is this?"

"It's a binding spell," Regina said and she looked over at Henry, narrowing her eyes dangerously that had him suddenly wishing he hadn't even bothered with the stupid spell. "Henry, do you know what this is?"

"A spell?" He offered lamely. "One that binds two people together and only stops working once—uh once—"

"They consummate the marriage," Regina finished for him and Emma practically jumped and started clawing at the rope once again. "Don't bother dear, it's useless. You cannot remove the binding in any other way other than—"

"Wait," Emma stopped her and she looked at Henry and then back at her. "Did you just say _marriage_?"

"This is a very old custom in the Enchanted Forest, mostly used in cases of arranged marriages when two people who are involved are at a risk for fleeing before their marriage is—"

"Consummated, I got that part, but what the hell, Regina? Get this thing off! Try another spell!"

"I am trying to tell you that there is no other way. This is a very powerful spell. Henry," she said as she looked over at him. "Where did you get this?"

"In a book."

"Retrieve it immediately."

Henry dashed off to his room, grabbed the book and headed back before either of his mothers could start fighting again. He handed the book over to Regina shakily and stepped back, watching as she flipped through the book until she found the spell he had used.

"This is not good," Regina muttered under her breath and nudged at Emma when she tried to read the page. "This is not good at all."

"What isn't good?" Emma asked. "Regina?"

"There is two ways to break this spell. One is to consummate the marriage and the other is to break the spell with True Loves Kiss."

"Well, we sure as hell can't break it with a kiss!" Emma muttered. "And I don't know about you, but I'm not really down for the first option either."

"I am not staying bound to you because you won't consummate this marriage."

"How are we even married? We're just—"

"Bound to one another with a very powerful spell," Regina cut in and Henry watched the look the two of them exchanged in slight amusement. "In the Enchanted Forest—"

"We're in the real goddamn world, Regina! Those laws and customs and what have you don't even apply here!" Emma yelled and she ripped the book from Regina's hand and waved it at Henry. "Where did you get this?"

"Mr. Gold's shop."

"You—Henry!" Emma groaned in frustration. "Did you even read the whole spell?"

Henry shrugged. "Yeah, I read the page, I followed every step," he replied.

"There's another page, Henry," Regina said quietly. "It explains the spell fully so the caster understands fully what it means, how it works, and how to break the binding spell."

"Oh."

"What on earth were you thinking?" Regina asked and he shrugged again. "Didn't you realize that this was an arranged marriage spell?"

"No?"

"Henry, don't lie to us," Regina said in a tone that warned him he was definitely in a lot of trouble and stood to end up in even more. "Did you know that this spell—"

"No!" He shouted as he threw his hands up and let them fall back to his sides. "I didn't know it was an arranged marriage spell. I just—I hate that you two are always fighting and I thought, I _stupidly_ thought that maybe this would, I dunno, help you guys to stop fighting all the time."

"By binding us together?" Emma asked skeptically. "You know, kid, it would've been a hell of a lot better if you were jacking off in your room instead of secretly doing magic."

"Excuse me?" Regina snapped her head to look at Emma. "He's doing what?"

"Magic!"

"Not that," she groaned and Henry felt his face flush red-hot. "Jacking off?"

"He's a sixteen year old teenage boy! Don't act like he's some innocent kid who doesn't—"

"Enough," Regina said sharply. "I do not want to talk about our son and him…doing that. Right now we need to figure out how to break the binds because I sure as hell don't want to be stuck like this, to _you_, for any longer than is necessary."

"Well, it could be worse."

"However can it be worse?"

"Well, you can tell me that this marriage can be annulled or something and—"

"It cannot."

"What?"

"A binding spell such as this didn't just bound our hands together," Regina said and Emma paled as she inhaled sharply. "It intertwined our souls, dear. Regardless of it being "official", you can't get any more official than this."

"Oh hell no!" Emma shrieked and she looked over at Henry with wide, angry eyes. "You are in so much trouble, kid!"

"Go to your room at once," Regina ordered, pointing with her right hand towards his room. "You do not come out until we tell you to. Do you understand?"

"Whatever," he shrugged and that only made his mother angrier. "Yes, I understand," he corrected himself and frowned as he stormed off to his bedroom and slammed the door as the sound of his mothers bickering started up almost immediately.

Instead of fixing things and making things better by stopping them from fighting, he'd only made everything worse. He flopped down onto his bed and punched the pillow in frustration. What had he even been thinking? It was a stupid idea and now he'd not only unintentionally married his mothers with the spell, they were still fighting.

[X]

For the next five days, Emma and Regina were bound together every moment of every day. They had no privacy, no space between them and even after they'd gone to Gold to see if he could help, they lost all hope in becoming unbound from one another.

Emma just wanted to have her own personal space back and she had essentially all but moved in to Regina's house on Mifflin Street. She hadn't been given much of a choice as Regina refused to stay in her apartment and sleep in her bed. Regina had made a good point though; her house was bigger and quieter and allowed them more privacy. It also meant that Regina did not allow for them to leave the house at all in the last handful of days, too furious and not to mention too embarrassed to be seen bound to the town's Sheriff and Savior.

And Emma was suffering from cabin fever and a very moody Regina wasn't helping things.

The single most awkward part, aside from sharing the same bed, was the trips to the bathroom hands down. That went beyond both of their comfort levels and then some and it had progressed into them both holding off as long as they could manage. Showers were as equally awkward, but they'd both diverted their eyes during those few they actually had to take since magic couldn't take care of everything, especially not when it came to fresh, clean clothes on a daily basis and being sanitarily clean.

The worst part—or maybe it was the best part—was that they hadn't argued since the spell was cast by their son. In fact, they barely spoke at all unless they absolutely needed to. Regina spoke in short, clipped tones and Emma found herself speaking in an almost timid like manner with her. Neither were happy with their situation, but there really wasn't much they could do about it either.

The second worst part about it all was that the spell had literally changed things and it was Henry who had discovered those small little changes first. It was when the mail had come to the house, the name on the bill was "Regina Swan-Mills", but that wasn't the only thing the spell had changed. Their driver's licenses and Emma's passport had changed, as well as her nameplate on her desk at the station—which was how her parents had found out about their arranged marriage.

Snow had completely lost it, she'd heard the completely story from Henry as Regina refused to allow her parents to set foot in her home, warding all entrances with a spell that would only allow herself, Emma, and Henry to pass through. Emma had ignored the phone calls as well, not wanting to deal with her mother because Henry had told her how completely devastated she was to learn of their arranged marriage and the fact that it was irreversible.

By the sixth night, Emma was growing beyond restless. She missed her own bed and her personal space and the silence between her and Regina had grown to be deafening. It was past eleven and they'd retired to bed two hours before because Regina had wanted to. Emma wasn't even tired, but it wasn't as if she'd had much of a choice in the matter. Now she found herself wide awake and over-thinking their entire situation. She wanted nothing more than to break the binding that tied them together, she just wanted that part of the spell to be broken so they could both get back to their lives separately. The marriage part would be dealt with afterwards, she reasoned with her thoughts despite knowing that it wasn't possible.

Although it wasn't official on paper per se, they truly were married. Gold had told them that the spell Henry had used had bound their very souls together and that even if there were a way to reverse it, it could be extremely dangerous as it was an unbreakable union, just the way the spell intended for it to be.

Even after a week Emma was still trying to wrap her head around the whole thing and she'd done a lot of thinking, perhaps too much, because now she was wide awake and wondering how to bring up the fact that she wanted to try to break the binding by consummating their arranged marriage. It was just sex, nothing more. She didn't need to love to fuck someone, but she wasn't even sure where Regina stood on that issue. Regina was far from being the Evil Queen she'd once been and never, in all the years that Emma had known her, had she spoken of her requirements when it came to sex.

Emma sighed loudly and looked over at the sleeping woman next to her before she gently slipped her hand into hers. It wasn't the first they'd held hands since the spell had been cast, but it was the first time Emma had made the move instead of the other way around, Regina having always grabbed her hand to pull her to wherever she wanted to go within the house.

"What are you doing?" Regina muttered sleepily as she tried to pull her hand away. "Emma, let go this instant."

"I need to talk to you."

"I'm sleeping."

"You're awake now."

"Because I have an idiot attached to me that wants to talk," she sighed softly. "What is it?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm kind of ready for this thing to just disappear."

"I told you once, I told you a hundred different times, there is no spell to take this binding off."

"What about what the book said?" Emma asked quietly, holding her breath as she waited for Regina to answer her. When she said nothing, Emma continued. "We both know that True Loves Kiss isn't going to work with us. We're not each other's true love or anything because that would be absolutely ridiculous."

"Of course it would be."

"What about the other part?"

"You want to consummate the marriage?" Regina asked and her voice was laced with surprise Emma knew she was trying to hide. "You're not serious."

"What if I am?"

"Emma—"

"Look, its just sex, isn't it? I mean we give each other what, one orgasm and this thing should just come off, right? Isn't that how it works?" Emma asked and she heard Regina sigh in annoyance.

"In jest, yes, that is how it is supposed to work, but surely you don't want to…do that?"

"What, never been with another woman before?"

"Have you?"

"Does it matter?" Emma asked and she bit her bottom lip when no words slipped past Regina's lips. "Regina?"

"If I answer your question, will you answer mine?"

"It is the same—"

"Will you?" Regina snapped.

"Fine, yes," Emma muttered. "So, have you?"

"Once."

"And?"

"Your turn to answer," Regina said sharply. "What about yourself? Have you ever been with another woman before?"

Emma opened and closed her mouth, at a sudden loss for words despite the answer being on the tip of her tongue. Had she been with another woman before? Did the girl she made out with behind the bleachers in the ninth grade count? Did the answer mean if they'd had sex with another woman? Of course it did, it was what Emma had implied when she made that jab at Regina moments ago.

"Honestly, no, I haven't."

Even though it was dark enough that she couldn't clearly see Regina's face, she knew she just rolled her eyes in that very moment. After a couple minutes of heavy silence between them, Regina turned on the bedside lamps with a small snap of her fingers.

"I have a few ground rules," she said as she turned to look at Emma. "Under no circumstance do you try to kiss me. We're doing this solely to break the spell and not for any other reason."

"Got it. No kissing."

"This is a one time deal," Regina continued. "We do this once and we break the binding and you will immediately return to your apartment tonight."

"Sure, can't wait."

"You will not tell our son that we've consummated this marriage."

"Well, he knows the details of what it'd take to break this binding, so what the hell are we supposed to tell him, Regina?"

"That we figured out a way around it."

"You know he's going to want more than that."

"And he shall have to be satisfied with that very answer."

"Fine, whatever."

Their eyes locked for the longest moment and Emma wasn't sure what she saw in Regina's eyes, but it was definitely something she'd never seen before. There was a sudden chill and Emma looked down at her body to find that her pajama's had been magically removed and she wasn't the only one naked in the bed.

Swallowing hard, she tried to push out all reasons why they shouldn't be doing this and that feeling that started to surface inside of her that she actually wanted to do this made it impossible for her to look away from the gorgeous, naked body next to her own.

They were going to do this because it was necessary. That was what Emma repeated over and over in her head as Regina, who seemingly had no qualms about holding back, moved to straddle her hips with practiced ease.

There was no going back the second Regina's hand was on her body, unhurriedly trailing down her abdomen and in between her legs.

This was definitely happening and there was no going back now…

[X]

Regina had been the one that broke her own condition of no kissing, but it wasn't as if she could help herself. Things had gotten rather heated between them and fast and after the first two orgasms Emma had given her, she was in absolute zero control of her own body and her own actions in the heat of the moment.

It wasn't until they'd kissed with the binding on their wrists disappear completely. Lost in the moment they had created together, unintentionally at that, they didn't stop. Didn't stop kissing, didn't stop from taking each other again and again until the very early hours of the morning when they both had collapsed side by side on the bed, completely and utterly spent.

After they'd slept for a few short hours, she was surprised to find herself so disappointed to wake up to an empty bed and cold sheets next to her. Moaning quietly as she ran her now unbound hand over the smooth sheets, she frowned and raised her fingers to her still kiss swollen lips.

Her demand for Emma not to try to kiss her had been preposterous. Given the position they were in, of course it was bound to happen. The truth was, Regina doubted just the consummation would be enough to break the spell, and it was a feeling that rooted deep inside her soul.

She sat up, holding the sheets up over her naked body as the bedroom door opened slowly and Emma stepped inside carrying two Styrofoam cups of coffee likely from Granny's since she'd been there for almost a week and had yet to figure out Regina's coffee maker.

"I thought you left."

"Yeah, to get coffee," Emma laughed softly as she toed off her shoes and crawled onto the bed. "Good morning to you too, wifey."


End file.
